It is said that the most troublesome thing for foreigners who have just lived in Japan for a long time is the household garbage classification . . . Because they do not know how to classify, and there’s too many rules, it is especially troublesome for foreigners to classify their garbage in Japan. . .

In Japan, garbage is divided into four categories: Combustible garbage, Non-burnable garbage, large garbage, bottles and cans.

Why is garbage sorting in Japan so complicated?？？

Almost everyone who lives in Japan must follow the garbage classification guidelines distributed by the city government to each household to throw their garbage. The reason why it is “particularly troublesome” is because that the classification of garbage in Japan is much nuanced, and the collection dates of garbage are different. Even you’re not a foreigner, as long as you move; the first thing is to ask your neighbors for a garbage classification guide.

What is the Secret behind Japan clean environment？

Although Japan looks green and clean now a day. In the 1960s, when the Japanese economy took off, when different kinds of industry are blooming, and as a result, the environment was also in a mess. Various indexes broke the table and were labeled Japan as the title of ‘public nuisance big country’. So the Japanese decided to wash their minds and pay attention to environmental protection. But how is it done specifically?

1、By Law：

Congress passed a series of regulations to promote the development of circular economy. It is difficult to find garbage bins and cleaners on the roads in Japan, but there is a group of monitoring teams that specialize in returning illegal garbage to their owners. According to the law, people who arbitrarily discard garbage will be punished by imprisonment for up to five years and a fine of 10 million Japanese Yuan. Therefore, after the World Cup, Japanese fans are not collecting rubbish, but punishment tickets for discarding garbage . . . But how do we throw garbage in the street without a garbage bin? You’ve got no choices but have to take it home! Japanese people have a variety of garbage bins in their homes. For example, lipstick, the substance inside can be burned, and the outer tube is thrown into plastic barrels or small metal barrels.

2、By Education

In 1970, the first word of ‘Public Security’ first appeared in Japan [Primary School Learning Guidance Outline]. First, the Environmental Protection Division is a compulsory course for Japanese students from elementary school to high school.

3、By Crisis Awareness：

Japan is as large as 877,835 square kilometers, equivalent to one-fifth of Russia. The resources are very scarce, so the garbage must be in a reuse circulation.

That’s right! Throwing garbage has to depend on days too!

For example, Tuesday is recycling paper, Wednesday is recycling bottles and cans, Friday is non-burnable garbage, etc… Since the garbage collection is handed over to the local government for management and rules, the rules in each region are different. The items and rules for recycling are also different.
For example, some places can be recycled with paper and some are recycled separately. If you not so sure about the rules and simply discarded your garbage, you will be reluctant to be corrected by your neighbors, or even become a nuisance.

Where is the recycled garbage going?

The battery, fluorescent bulb was transported to the Hokkaido cycle, the plastic bottle was transported to Okayama, steel and aluminum item was transported to Hiroshima. . .

Does anyone sneak in their heart “I don’t feel like classifying that garbage”? Oh please do not do that, some of the Japanese community’s member will steal and look at other people’s garbage, if you are not classified as littering, you might be prosecuted! If you don’t want to be the object in your community, please do classify your garbage!